Reiki
Reiki is a rich tool that I infuse throughout my work. My clients who have studied it tell me it is part of their daily lives as well.
What Is Reiki?
The word Reiki comes from the Japanese Rei, universal or spiritually guided, and Ki, life force, which translates as “spiritually guided, universal life force energy.” All living beings have an energy that animates life and departs at death. We might call it personal energy. Reiki is that personal energy connected to Source.
Reiki is also a technique which channels this universal life force energy to promote relaxation, stimulate self-healing, and revitalize the body, mind, and spirit. As personal energy is affected by experiences, environment, and stress, among many other factors, it can become low or blocked, increasing the likelihood of dis-ease, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Reiki adapts to the needs of the receiver and balances their energy system, clearing the blockages. It can be used for all beings, including animals and plants.
Reiki is also a spiritual path. Mikao Usui, who discovered Reiki in the early 20th century, understood it primarily that way. His students in the first levels were dedicated to learning about the energy, but treatment of others was secondary. He gave his students five ethical and moral principles to guide their lives and asked that they do daily meditation and work with the Reiki energy. He taught that Reiki and its principles were guidelines to invite blessings and improve the mind and body.
Uses for Reiki
Reiki is a self-healing tool and an effective way to reduce stress and anxiety.
It can also be used to help others heal themselves.
It can protect care-givers from drains on their personal energy.
It can protect practitioners from picking up negativity from others.
It can be used to charge food and medicine to maximize their nutritional and healing value.
It can be channeled to clear tensions and strengthen relationships.
It can be a form of meditation that opens channels to spiritual connection.
It can deepen concentration and invite mental and emotional insight.
Reiki can be used to send healing energy to specific people and circumstances.
It can be used to clear places of negative or heavy energy, and to create safe and sacred space.
The uses of Reiki are limited only by our imagination.
Reiki in a Coaching Session
In a coaching session, I use Reiki to clear the energy of the session space. With it, I also create a safe energetic container to hold the work we will do together. While we are in session, I will often channel Reiki, even as we are talking or doing another activity. The healing vibration helps move out the energy that is ready to be shifted and strengthen what we are building. Additionally, Reiki enhances my intuition and helps me pick up on the layers of the issues we are working on.
My Skeptical Journey to Reiki
I came to Reiki as a complete skeptic, armed with resistance and caught entirely off-guard. One day, I found myself browsing crystal jewelry at a new-age store—not because I believed stones had any power beyond breaking bones, but simply because I liked the jewelry. That’s when one of my familiar, dreaded migraines struck.
A store clerk noticed I was struggling (migraines left me nearly blind and worried about driving home) and asked if she could help. I agreed, and she placed her hands on my head and shoulders. Within minutes, that nauseating, blinding migraine had softened to just a mild headache.
I was astounded and when I asked what she’d done, the clerk said it was Reiki and that I could learn it right there at the store. In spite of the high cost, I whipped out my credit card and signed up immediately.
By the time I reached home, I’d already convinced myself it hadn’t been a “real” migraine and that she hadn’t done anything special. I called to cancel.
But the store didn’t give refunds, only credit. And nothing else in the store came close to the class price. Resigned, I decided to take it.
The day arrived, and I walked into a room where the teacher wore a flowing muumuu and every student looked like they’d stepped out of a 1960s commune. Not my crowd. Then the teacher handed out cards depicting our supposed “spirit guides.” Mine was a rodent. I wasn’t buying any of it.
I spent the entire class mentally nitpicking, feeling foolish when I participated, and silently laughing at everyone else’s gullibility. I barely listened to the instructions—I just wanted the day to end.
At home, I put it all behind me, ignoring the follow-up instructions I’d never really heard anyway.
And yet… I kept thinking about it.
Three months later, I decided I needed conclusive proof. I hung a necklace from my lamp’s vertical arm and held my palm underneath it. At first, nothing happened—I couldn’t remember how to “summon” Reiki. Then I remembered, and the little pendant began swinging, gently but unmistakably.
Maybe there was something to this after all.
I began practicing on myself, then on others. I took more classes with teachers who felt more aligned with who I was.
Then one ordinary day, it hit me: I couldn’t remember my last migraine. I still don’t know exactly when they stopped. But after living with them for over a decade, they were simply gone. I can only attribute their disappearance to Reiki.
Becoming attuned to Reiki shifted how I understand the world, suddenly I could see everything through the lens of energy. Fast forward a few years, and it had woven itself into my daily life: charging my first glass of water each morning, flowing through meditation, sharing it with friends and family, and offering myself treatments as I drifted off to sleep.
Eventually, I began teaching it, and it became a cornerstone of my coaching practice. What started as reluctant skepticism in a crystal shop had quietly transformed into a way of being in the world.
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